Portfolio+Meditation+-+How+are+social+identity,+power,+and+academic+literacy+related?

Kerry Storace December 22, 2014 CTGE 5531 Portfolio Meditation: How are social identity, power, and academic literacy related?

 Social power is usually based on how we are perceived by others whereas social identity is how we perceive ourselves. Throughout the semester, I have discovered various ways that these perceptions can be affected by academic literacy. In simpler terms, our perception of both ourselves and others is frequently based upon speech. We use language to interpret situations, relationships, and levels of intelligence. We use different speech with different groups of people and our first impressions are usually based on the way someone looks and speaks.  During module 3, I researched the connections between language and prejudice. As I mentioned, perception is large part of social power. As stated in my language and prejudice essay, “upon first meeting someone, the majority of your opinions are based on how they look and sound. Someone with a dialect you are unfamiliar with may seem uneducated despite the fact that most linguists believe that dialect is not an accurate measure of intelligence. In fact, it bears almost no relevance towards intelligence, but perception is still a large part of language.” In this sense, social power can be difficult to acquire if you are unfamiliar with a language or culture. If you do not use Standard English people may form unjustified prejudices against you. In fact, these prejudices are even apparent within countries. One article I read stated that Michigan has the most “correct” speech whereas New York and people from down south have the worst speech. Dialects and types of speech come in as many varieties as there are people.  Language is also a major part of social identity because it is connected to culture. I read an article about Native Americans using tribal languages for Catholic Church services. Unfortunately, many of these languages have died. Again this brings us back to prejudice. If people had been more accepting of Native American cultures to begin with they would not struggle so much to keep their culture alive. The article states that there are very few people with fluency in these tribal languages and many of those people are elderly. As time goes on, they seem to lose more and more of their culture. As I mentioned, this issue with Native American languages reminds me of how Gaelic was obliterated from Ireland despite its unique cultural significance and sound. Losing a language is losing a large part of one’s identity.  Some of the most difficult barriers to break are those separating us from other countries. This includes English speaking countries as well as regions where they speak other languages. As discussed in my point of tension, I was frequently trying to find ways to communicate with people whose language I did not share. Again identity became a factor as there were also parts of the culture I did not understand. Cultural differences are apparent between westernized countries as well. One activity I suggested to help students learn about other English speaking countries and other forms of “standard” English was a char with different words and phrases from other countries. For example, soccer here is football in the UK or Australians say singlet instead of tank top. This idea was actually inspired by something I have done multiple times throughout my travels. I have spent a lot of time backpacking and these charts are posted at hostels or created by groups as a getting to know you exercise. Generally, people have a lot of fun and find out words and differences that they had no idea existed. Despite their differences, people keep an open mind and not only respect the lingual oddities but actually enjoy them.